


kiss it better

by callieincali



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Brakebills, Drabble, F/F, kady is flirty, nurse!julia, srsly idk what this is, the welters challenge, wickoff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-08 00:19:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11070105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callieincali/pseuds/callieincali
Summary: julia is sent to work at the infirmary where a particularly clumsy battle magic student always seems to end up





	kiss it better

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY WELTERS WEEK 1!
> 
> the theme is Brakebills so i got some Brakebills for ya. 
> 
> honestly, just a drabble that i threw together because i need to participate in this challenge as much as possible
> 
> i hope someone out there enjoys it

Of course Julia had finished her classes earlier than any other fifth year, because why wouldn't she?

Spending the greater part of her days in the Brakebills student library had its perks— one of which being the ability to stay up after hours and read ahead in her studies, placing her a few months ahead of the rest of her year.

And while that superiority came with the constant hushed chatter carrying comments aimed towards Julia's overachievements, the remarks only seemed to make her pride strengthen.

Naturally, Julia had assumed that her early completion would ensure her the rights to spend the remainder of the year left to her own devices, but those expectations were quickly shot down, not long after Dean Fogg got word of the unusual circumstance.

The infirmary was short-staffed, he said. And he wasn't keen on letting a student freeload amongst the campus for three months. It would be easy work— just another set of hands— but those claims weren't enough to quell the irritation building inside her.

Nonetheless, Julia woke up bright and early on a Monday morning and begrudgingly headed to the infirmary, cursing the campus's normally warm temperature as she walked across the dew-soaked grass.

A woman (whose name refused to remain in Julia's memory) readily greeted her, already scribbling Julia's name on a paper name tag.

The orientation was short and sweet, mostly consisting of the proper way to fill out patient reports— an ordeal that the nurse insisted on being done without magic (something about inaccuracies that occurred in the magic-to-ink transfer)— and demonstrations on appropriate bedside manner.

Julia shadowed a few nurses for the rest of the day, watching them perform simple healing spells on the infirmary's inhabitants and ignoring the sideways glances she received at the fact that she had chosen not to take notes. She had already taken a healing class in her second year anyway, and she didn't need a refresher. Being a knowledge student had come in handy in those regards.

The shadowing routine continued for a few days; helping to stitch cuts, replacing a dislocated shoulder, and occasionally— on an exciting day— mending a broken bone. Most of the kids that came through the double doors were battle magic students who had been injured during a casting, but none of which came through the infirmary doors as often as Kady Orloff-Diaz, a name Julia easily recognized by her third day on the job.

Kady was the living encompassment of the typical punk chick stereotype. Piercings all the way up her ears and a nose ring to match. A wardrobe that screamed 'I-threw-on-the-closest-three-articles-of-clothing-and-may-have-been-wearing-it-for-three-days-now', yet somehow managed to portray itself as a fashion statement.

Julia, in her maroon turtlenecked dress and black pantyhose, couldn't feel more contrasted standing next to her.

She came in during Julia's second day of volunteering, limping on one foot while simultaneously attempting to shake off the grip of two male students as they tried to help her to a bed. A nurse— who still remained nameless in Julia's mind— took to examining her; asking questions, poking and prodding, scribbling on her clipboard, using some sort of device that consisted of three, multicolored lenses to look closer at the girl's hurting leg.

Kady started off on a tangent about what had happened, whose fault it was, and why she didn't need to come to the infirmary in the first place.

"Julia, I think I'll let you take this one on your own. But if you have any questions," Nameless explained, leaving the sentence open for Julia to fill in for herself, before hurrying off to tend to another patient. Julia eyed Kady momentarily, and Kady eyed her right back, crossing her arms over her chest and squinting her eyes in a way that looked as if she were sizing Julia up. Julia stepped closer and shook out her hands by her side, ignoring the faint smile tugging at Kady's lips.

She lined her thumbs and forefingers into a square, holding them up in front of her eyes, and muttered a few words from memory. The space illuminated blue and with a few more incantations fell into a screen of blacks, whites, and grays, allowing Julia to see past the skin on Kady's leg and into the highlighted bone underneath. And after a few minutes of inspection, Julia shook the spell from her fingers.

"It's just a sprain." She began. Kady immediately interjected with grumbles of 'I knew it' and 'I told them I didn't need to come', adding in an eye roll and a shake of her head that sent her dark curls bouncing above her shoulders. "So, no way to fix it with magic, but you'll still need to rest it. You're excused from battle magic for a week. Keep your leg elevated and ice it twice a day to help the swelling." Julia rattled off monotonously, probably giving off the vibe that it wasn't her first time saying the short speech.

Kady nodded, a hint of a smirk growing on her lips as she looked up towards the shorter brunette. "And what do I get if I do?"

It was obvious the question was meant to be flirtatious, but Julia took the oblivious route and lowered her eyebrows as if the statement made no logical sense to her.

"A _not_ sprained ankle." The smirk on Kady's face faltered, and Julia didn't give her a chance to rephrase before she was moving on to the next patient.

Kady wasn't her type anyway (even if the intense butterflies in her stomach made it seem otherwise).

And of course, Kady had to return to the clinic, no more than two days later, and then three days after that, and so on, until Julia began to look forward to seeing Kady. Only because it had become a game with herself to try and guess what injury the girl would come in with. Definitely not for any other reason.

Their conversations were kept short— mostly by Julia's doing— but always long enough for Kady to slip in a few suggestive comments that never failed to elicit a red tint in the shorter girl's cheeks.

The routine became typical for the two, each appearance making it harder for Julia to stop the bubbling excitement that built inside her as soon as they made eye contact.

"You're that girl, right?" Kady asked suddenly, halfway through Julia's sixth time seeing her— not that she’d been counting. The battle magic student had come in with a fairly bad burn on the palm of her hand, and Julia had begun tending to the blisters when the question arose.

Julia pursed her lips and tilted her head, still focusing on gently dabbing the sores with an antiseptic-soaked cotton ball. She had to admit, she liked the way Kady's hand looked in her own— even with a second-degree burn running along it.

"The girl that finished all her classes and still wanted to work at the infirmary for the rest of the year?" Kady elaborated, her unharmed hand gripping tightly on the bedsheets, most likely in an effort to distract from the sting of the rubbing alcohol. The rumor was slightly misconstrued but Julia didn't have the desire to correct it. She nodded. Overly hardworking didn't sound like a rumor she should be ashamed of.

"Yeah, that's me." Julia's defenses had already started to come alive, ready to protect her reputation if the need came. But instead, the space between them fell silent momentarily.

"You should come to the physical kid's cottage sometime. I could sneak you in."

"What? So I can help you study?" Julia immediately shot back, her voice remaining neutral despite every nerve in her body feeling on edge. Kady chuckled quietly at the assumption.

"No, no studying. This kid Eliot— he throws parties every Friday. I just figured you might enjoy it more than spending every minute of your last year learning." Kady explained, the clarification sounding more coaxing than Julia had anticipated. The words bounced through her mind, seemingly hitting every point Julia needed to be persuaded. The smile spreading across Kady's face told her that the consideration was obvious.

"And I've got frozen pizzas." Kady sung, the grin growing wider until it was impossible for Julia not to mimic it.

"That is convincing." Julia laughed, finally tossing the used cotton ball and taking to wrapping the girl's hand in thin gauze.

"C'mon it'll be my way of thanking you for being my nurse the past few weeks." And while Julia could have taken the easy route and simply agreed to the invitation, she decided to add in a teasing comment of her own.

"And what about all the weeks that'll come after that?"

Kady nodded as to say 'fair point', before returning her stunning green irises to Julia's most likely less lustrous ones.

"I could thank you with a date?"

Julia was thankful she had just finished wrapping the girl's hand, otherwise she would have been concerned that Kady would feel the heat radiating through her fingers at the suggestion. But gathering the little remaining composure scattered throughout her, Julia stood from beside the bed and patted Kady on the shoulder a few times to signal their conversation was done for the day.

"We'll work our way up to that."

**Author's Note:**

> hahaha i picked this ending bc it could be either julia or kady saying that last line and i'll let you all decide which one you like better. (:<
> 
> come yell w me on twitter @bestbltches or on tumblr @magicianstextposts


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